


A Cat and Mouse Game

by MoonQueenSelene



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Certainly NOT for the faint of heart, F/M, Kinda more one-sided moontoffee, Torture, may or may not be one-shot depends on how this is received by people if they want more, more tags to be added as I write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-30 04:45:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10153949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonQueenSelene/pseuds/MoonQueenSelene
Summary: Moon Butterfly's world comes to a screeching halt and she can do nothing but watch as it crumbles into dust around her, knowing that no matter what she does can never truly save the ashes.





	1. Slow Burn

It wasn't supposed to be this way! Though she supposed that Star wasn't to blame, perhaps it was herself and River who were to blame for this particular situation, Star was Star and certainly nothing was going to change that. What she hadn't expected though was the harsh push back of her peoples. Rallying in the streets, throwing torches at the royal palace in an attempt to catch it on fire. The last straw she supposed was hearing the whispers in the corridors. Whispers of a better life, under an honest ruler. A better life awaits, they would whisper.

 

_A monster king is no better than these Butterflys. If the Butterfly Family can lie so fluidly can a monster king be any worse?_

 

Of course she knew exactly whom they were speaking about, and the thought of it made her blood run cold and freeze in her veins. This had been his plan all along and Star's Song Day had only made it that much easier, brought him that much closer to the throne of Mewni. Well she wouldn't let him have it! It was as simple as that, he would never sit on that throne, or he would die trying. And so she chose to keep up that brave face and in the darkest moments, where she would find Star yelling at her wand, tears streaming down her daughter's face, she would hug her daughter, and she would, in rare moments, kiss her daughter's forehead, and reassure her;

"Star, this takes time. You may not have the book and you may not have Glossaryk but you have yourself and I...I believe that you can master any spell you want, you can create whatever spell will help you...Training is not easy, I know, but you've faired better without the book then I think any future Queen Butterfly would have before you. Everything will be alright, this too, shall pass in time. Don't worry, we will fix this together."

It was easier to lie to her daughter in those moments, because she knew that it would not be okay. That this may pass, but it also may not. She didn't dare let her daughter hear the whispers of the people, she couldn't bear to know what it would do to her daughter. After Toffee had taken Marco she'd thrown herself at him blindly, she'd dropped the wand at his feet without any hesitation, simply to save her friend. It was a notion that, at one point, Moon didn't quite understand herself but overtime she'd seen and she'd understood. She could only hope and that Star wasn't rash enough to attempt that again.

 

For now however, she had been able to quell the rebellions and peace fell over the kingdom for a time, however she still heard them whispering, whispering softly of their monster king. They had persecuted Queen Eclipsa all that time ago for taking a monster lover, yet they were so quick to turn on their royal family for Toffee, Toffee of Septarsis. The monster she had not so long ago banished from Mewni.

 

* * *

 

"River no, are you insane? Do you want us to lose the support of all of our people!?" She snapped at him during dinner one night, after in tense silence, he had suggested they find Toffee and his growing army and ambush them. He hadn't seen anything wrong with this, however she knew exactly what was wrong with this and a phrase Toffee had said to her once rang in her head,  _"You've gone and you've married the idiot. Don't you understand you've thrown your entire future away simply because you feel something towards him! You're a queen you don't get to do that!"_ Now she supposed that he had been partially right, he thought of himself and what was best for his family, which she admired. But he had forgotten that they were not exactly favored by the people right now.

"So all we do is wait!? Is that what you want to do, sit here and pretend everything is fine until he shows up at the steps of our castle? Wait until he comes for our heads?!" River snapped right back, they were lucky Star had decided to take dinner in her room that night, both knew how much it would pain their daughter to see them fight with each other like this.

"We can't just go after him! Haven't you heard them?!"

"Heard who? Who am I..supposed to be hearing darling." River had started to calm down, but Moon had not. Oh no she had stood so fast that her chair clattering to the ground behind her.

"Them...Them! Them!" She was screaming, when had she started screaming? She looked down to see her arms had wrapped themselves around her body tightly, when had she done that?

"Darling..." River started and then stopped, staring at her, "Moon...please...Please..." He took a step towards her, he couldn't stand to her like this. She was quivering like a child, her immaculate hair had fallen out of place, half of it framing her face as she hugged her thin frame tightly, when had she suddenly become so thin? She was hysterical, she was hysterical and she couldn't even realize it for herself.

"Don't!" Moon snapped, feeling her knees grow weak, looking around quickly, as skittish as a deer, before she darted from the dining room. It hadn't been until she was getting ready for bed that she'd seen River again, and in a rather unqueenly gesture, she'd turned her face away from her husband.

 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you and I...I won't bring up that idea again." River said and slowly, cautiously approached his wife as she sat her vanity, staring out the window and up at the moon and the stars. This time, she did not try to yell or push him away when he took her hand and then pulled her into a tight hug. She supposed she didn't particularly like hugs, but she had needed this one. Instead of just accepting it, she returned it. She knew she shouldn't harbor any resentment against River, he had only been giving suggestions to their problem.

 

That night had bee the first night in a great while that she had gotten rest, she slept peacefully however, dreaming of softer, nicer times...and then nothing.

She could have _sworn_ she'd woken, and now she could hear a baby crying. The soft sobs of an infant looking for it's mother's comfort. She quickly got out of bed, she had to comfort the baby, her baby...Weaving her way silently through those halls, those quiet and cool halls that she had walked thousands of times, and she could still hear the crying as clear as it had been from her bed.

Her baby...her baby! No matter how many halls she ran through, where was the nursery? Where was her baby!? She stopped, she could hear the baby crying and crying from every different direction and she began running and calling, "My baby! My baby, my baby!" And finally she'd seen that unmistakable door and flung it open running to the crib to find...nothing. And then she looked up at the window and there **he** sat, holding a squirming bundle in his arms, with that sickle resting beside him, coated heavily in blood.

 _"I'm sorry...The baby didn't make it, and neither did you."_ And then she heard that damned laugh.

And she looked down to see her nightgown, slowly a small spot of blood began getting bigger and bigger and blood began to pool around her feet and she shrieked in terror.

 

And then she woke with a large gasp after her shriek, shooting up and almost out of bed, looking around in terror. What had happened, what had happened?!

"Mom!" Star had yelled, throwing her arms around her mother in a tight hug, "Mom are you okay!? What happened?"

It took a moment to begin to process everything, still looking around frantically to see River holding her hand at the side of the bed and guards standing there before she wailed out, "My baby!"

This was probably the most frightened, the most vunerable that Star had ever seen her mother, and she hated it. She...She wanted her mother to go back to being strict about her training and she wanted her mother to go back to being poised! From a distant place it felt she heard her father tell the guards to fetch a physician that something was wrong...Star just wished...she just wished that things could back to how they were before. Slowly, she pulled away from her mother. And she stared at her, and watched, as the fog cleared from her mother's eyes and she went silent, her wailing ceased and they stared at each other before a moment.

And then Moon grabbed her daughter and wrapped her arms around her so tightly that Star thought she might break bones as her mother just held her tightly, "You're safe...You're safe..." She said softly, as if she was concerned for Star, as if something had just happened to HER!

"Mom...Mom are you okay?" Star asked when her mother finally, finally let go of her.

"Yes I'm quite alright Star I'm sorry...I'm so sorry if I frightened you...And I'm sorry that I frightened you right out of bed River..."She turned to her husband who just stared, concerned, "Call off the physician I am feeling fine now...It was just a nightmare." She insisted, getting of bed and instinctively looking down at her nightgown. No blood...it had just been a vivid nightmare...

"Star you have training to do and I have daily duties to get to, she look out the window, dawn was just breaking, "Time for us to get ready." And with that, she headed off, acting as if nothing ever happened. She had to...she wouldn't let this...this poor attempt to scare her turn her into a frightened child. She was a QUEEN, and queens were not scared of nightmares.

 

What she didn't know was that River and the Star had heard it all, her terrified calls for her baby, her tossing and turning in her sleep, and she shriek when she had seen the blood, and they both knew that something dark and sinister was there, looming over the Queen and slowly, agonizingly, draining her. The game had begun.


	2. Proving A Point

Moon hadn’t quite felt safe ever since that nightmare. It was the only one she’d had thus far but the contents of it still lingered within her. Many nights she found she couldn’t sleep, she would walk those endless winding halls in silence, save the soft sound of her feet against the cold marble floors. She wrapped her robe tightly around her, there were eyes….eyes staring at her, burning into her. She would walk and walk and then whip around as fast as possible to catch who was following her!- 

But no one was there, no one was **ever** there, and the feeling persisted. Every night, defeated, Moon would stomp off, back to her quarters...she had to sleep! She was going mad without sleep and she certainly wasn’t going to let some nightmare that had happened so long ago affect her now!

* * *

 

On a night that she found herself alone she sat at her vanity, knees hugged against her chest as she sat in the silence, the only light filtering through from the balcony doors, illuminating the room in a soft blue hue.

“I know you’re here.” She said softly, a twinge of paranoia in her voice, waiting in silence for an answer. When none came she continued, “You can’t frighten me anymore.” Again, nothing but silence. She would have rather heard a response rather than this deafening silence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence Moon shook her head in anger, slowly getting up off her vanity chair and stomping over to bed. She didn’t have time to indulge such delusions, “I’m going to bed.”   
  


“You and I both know that you aren’t.”   
  


Moon stopped in her tracks, a wave washing over her and she couldn’t quite make out if it was dread or fear, perhaps even relief? Slowly she put the blanket back where it was and straightened up, but she did not turn around. She didn’t need to turn around, the light filtered onto the wall of the bedroom, and she could see his silhouette, a stark black against the hue of the room.

“You’re going to get frustrated because you cannot sleep and then you’re going to get up and haunt the halls of the castle. You’ve done it almost every night with week.”

She shook her head, “No, I’m going to bed.” And without hesitation this time she got into bed. And there was silence for a few minutes before she heard the soft sounds of footsteps. She could tell clearly now what she felt; dread.

 

“Why are you here Toffee.”

 

A sigh, almost as if she should know why he was there, and that having to explain it to her was a nuisance in some way, “I am here to prove a point, Moon.”

Slowly, as to not arouse suspicion, Moon slid her hand underneath her pillow, clutching the handle of a dagger she’d kept there. She thought that at least if she was going to die, she would go down fighting.

“Moon.” The tone sounded like a warning, and she felt the handle of her dagger start to burn. She tried to hold on but ended up letting go after a moment with a hiss of pain.

“If I was here to kill you I would have already done it.” Toffee sounded unamused, “Turn around I don’t have time for such childish games.”

Slowly she sat up, still facing the wall, eyeing a set of swords, if she could get to them...she needed to distract him first, “What’re you going to do.”

“I'm going to prove a point, now turn around, you try my patience.”

Slowly she pretended to begin to turn, and bolted, straight across the bed and then stopped. Not of her own volition though, no, she felt something make her stop and no matter how hard she fought it, she could not move. Now panic fell over her like a dark cloud.

Toffee gave a dark chuckle, “Are you really so stupid? I have half the wand, and I have the book, and this,” she assumed he was gesturing towards her, “is basic magic.”

Moon’s breathing was slightly heavy, she was afraid, “Whatever your plan is I’m going to fight you the entire way.”

“Ah ah ah,” he tutted, “you are going to cooperate because I assure you, my dear, humiliating you will be a far easier mess to clean up than it will be if I humiliate Star.”

She felt his hand slowly wrap around one of her ankles, ripping her backwards as the struggle began. She hit and kicked and spat, but eventually he used one hand to pin both of hers above her head as her legs kicked and flailed at his sides. Slowly his free hand made it’s way to her neck and for a moment she thought he was going to choke her to death until in one fluid move Moon heard a ghastly tearing sound as he ripped her gown down the middle.

A silence fell over them, and whatever energy she had left to fight was gone. Moon slowly lifted her head to look him in the eyes. She didn’t have to ask to know what he was going to do to her, she wasn’t a foolish child. She wasn’t foolish...but she was terrified, her voice shaking as she found the strength to speak, “No…”

“Yes. Think of this as retribution for what you did to me so long ago.” His voice was cold and she closed her eyes, hearing the noise of what she could only assume was clothing being fumbled with, and then she felt a searing pain, taking a deep breath and screaming.

  
  


“No!” She gasped, bolting upright and looking around frantically. What had...where was…? She was breathing quickly and heavily, she could feel cold sweat running down her back. Quickly she looked down, tearing the blankets off her body to find her nightgown fully intact. Finally, she realized...a nightmare.

 

Her heart rate slowed and she felt herself able to think clearly, looking around nervously, again, again he’d invaded her dreams. She just wondered when it was she had transitioned from consciousness to sleep, and when it had been that she’d moved from the vanity to her bed but she supposed she did it somewhere between wake and sleep.

Moon got out of bed and grabbed her robe from the vanity chair, walking out her bedroom. An uneasiness lingered over her, she just wanted...wanted to go make sure that Star was alright. Slowly she opened the door to her daughter's bedroom and stepped inside, letting out a breath of relief as she say Star safe and asleep in her bed.

She tiptoed cautiously to the side of her daughter’s bed, running a hand through her daughter’s hair and smiling. She had never been one for public displays of affection...but this wasn’t in the public eye. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, “My Star…” She whispered softly, pulling a chair and sitting down watching her daughter sleep. She knew it was creepy but she worried...slowly though, she felt her eyes get heavy, and sleep overtook her.

* * *

Ever since she’d left Earth, Star had learned to expect to wake up to ANYTHING. Anarchy, the apocalypse, silence, nothing at all...But there was one thing she had never expected to wake up to, and that was her mother, asleep in a chair at the end of her bed. 

“M-mom?” Star asked, thinking that she was seeing things, but no, that really was her mom. Slowly Star approached her mother, tapping her on the shoulder and taking a step back when her mother woke with a start, “Hm? Wha…?” Moon turned and stared at her, “Oh dear, Star I’m sorry did I frighten you?” She asked slowly standing up.

“No I just...What’re you doing in here?” She asked, this was the first time that this had happened and Star wasn’t sure if she should be happy or worried.

Moon gave a soft frown staring at her daughter, should she lie to her? Or should she tell her the true? In the end she opted for a little bit of both, “I felt...something, I was worried about you and I didn’t want to leave you alone and unguarded.”

“Are you sure...that you’re okay mom?” Star could tell something wasn’t quite right.

“Yes, I am fine Star. I’m just worried...So much is going on that I am not in control of...It is, understandably, very hard for me to handle but...aside from that..” Moon smiled, “How is your training coming along Star?” She just wanted to change the subject.

“Ugh...I...I’m not progressing at all…” Star sat down on her bed, “I’m trying! I promise I’m not flaking out on my training sessions I just-!”

“Ssh...Star, don’t be disheartened if your training isn’t going well. You are trying your best, I have no doubts that you are. Your training may be slow, but at least you are training. In fact, you don’t even have the Book of Spells and look how well you are doing.” She put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “Star look at me..” And with that she hugged her daughter close, “You are doing better than ANY Butterfly before you could have ever done.”

Star felt a little taken aback, her mother had...Well to put it frankly her mother had never been this compassionate towards her in her entire life and it just seemed so odd, it took her a minute, before she tightly hugged her mother back.

“...Star promise me something.”

“What is it mom?”

“Promise me that no matter what happens you will take care of yourself and worry about yourself instead of others.”

There was a silence for a long while after that and Moon feared that her daughter would not agree and she would not promise, but after that long silence she heard her daughter speak up;

“I promise.”

  
And Moon felt a wave of relief wash over her.   



End file.
